Claus William Jensen (; born 29 April 1977) is a Danish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

, and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. During his active playing career, he played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for homeland clubs

Næstved Næstved () is a town in Næstved Municipality, the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five Primary education, elemen ...

and

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish language, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping stre ...

, as well as three other clubs in England. Jensen also made 47 appearances for the Denmark national team, in which he scored eight goals. He also represented Denmark at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and 2004 European Championship tournaments. He is the cousin of former winger Anders Due, who currently works as his assistant at Nykøbing.

Playing career

Jensen was born in

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a city on the island of Falster in southern Denmark. It has a population of 16,682 (1 January 2025). Including the satellite town Sundby (Lolland), Sundby on the Lolland side, with a populatio ...

, and played for a number of Danish lower-league teams, making his debut for the Danish under-19 national team in November 1995. In May 1996, he was loaned out from Danish second division club Nykøbing Falster Alliancen to

in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

. He played four games while at Næstved, but could not prevent the club from being

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

at the end of the season. He moved permanently to Superliga club

in June 1996, signing a contract alongside later Danish international Dennis Rommedahl. He played two years at Lyngby, before moving to play in England in July 1998. He was bought by First Division club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in a deal worth 1.8 million DKK. While at Bolton, he debuted for the Danish national team in March 2000. In July 2000, he moved to London to join promoted

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

for £4 million, and became a popular player with fans due to his influence during games. The Charlton fans would sing his name to the tune "charge" (often used during baseball matches), using Jensen for the build-up and singing his full name, Claus William Jensen, at the climax. He was called up to the Danish squad for the 2002 World Cup, where he made a single appearance as a substitute. In February 2003, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 friendly win against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

; one of the goals was scored from a

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the Laws of the Game (association football), laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either dire ...

. He also represented Denmark at the 2004 European Championship, where he took part in three of Denmark's four matches. Claus Jensen

After more than 100 games for Charlton, in July 2004, he moved to the Addicks' London rivals

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in a deal worth £1.25 million. He made his Fulham debut at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 14 August 2004. He spent three years with Fulham, but was plagued by injury, and on 17 May 2007, Fulham manager

Lawrie Sanchez Lawrence Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a football manager and former international footballer for Northern Ireland. The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon aga ...

decided to release him; Jensen claims his release was inevitable because he did not fit into Sanchez's

long ball In association football, a long ball is a pass attempt that moves the ball a long distance on the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfie ...

tactics. After three years with repeating injuries, he chose to end his professional career on 25 August 2007.

Post retirement career

In May 2015, Claus Jensen was part of a small group of investors, including TV chef

Claus Meyer Claus Meyer (born 27 December 1963) is a Danish entrepreneur, cook and television host. He is often accredited as the founder of the New Nordic Cuisine philosophy. Projects Claus Meyer has been engaged in a plethora of projects and has been ...

, comedian Mick Øgendahl and former football player Biri Biri, who bought into

Nykøbing FC Nykøbing FC is a Danish professional association football club based in Nykøbing Falster on Falster. The club competes in Danish 2nd Division, the third tier of the Danish football league system, and plays its home games at the Lollands Bank ...

. At the same time, Jensen joined the board as sports director. In the summer of 2016, he stepped up and also became chairman of the club after the club was promoted to the 2016-17 Danish 1st Division. On 7 January 2020, Jensen was appointed manager of Nykøbing; a position where he had to combine the role of sports director with the role of head coach of the club's first team. After five years as head coach of the club, the club confirmed on 4 January 2025 that Jensen would continue in the role of Director of Football at the club from the new year.Claus Jensen stopper som manager og bliver fodbolddirektør
nykobingfc.com, 4 January 2025

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jensen goal.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Claus 1977 births Living people Danish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Danish Superliga players Premier League players Lyngby Boldklub players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Næstved Boldklub players Footballers from Nykøbing Falster Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Danish 1st Division managers